Obama Asks Congress to Delay Votes on Syria

U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress to delay votes on a possibe military strike on Syria after the Syrians agreed to give up their chemical weapons.

The government in Damascus says it will disclose its chemical stockpile and sign an international treaty banning such weapons. Syria also says it is willing to agree to a Russian plan to put its chemical weapons under international control, where they would be destroyed.

Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States will take a hard look at the Russian plan, but he says it has to be verifiable and implemented quickly. Kerry says the United States is not going to fall for what he calls a stalling tactic by Syria or Russia, Syria's biggest ally.

The United Nations Security Council canceled an emergency meeting on Syria that was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. But President Obama still plans to address the American people Tuesday night on the Syrian crisis.

The president was planning to make his case for a possible military strike on Syria for allegedly dropping chemical weapons on civilians last month.

Iran, China and the Arab League have all said they welcome the Russian plan for Syria's chemical weapons. But Syria's main opposition bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, dismissed the idea as meaningless. It says it would still give the Syrian army free rein to fight on with conventional weapons.